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Rebroadcast: The Schmidt Sting Pain Index with Dr. Justin Schmidt

·27 min·2 clips

A bullet ant sting feels like being shot, with throbbing pain that lasts up to three days.

This rebroadcast episode of Cool Facts About Animals features host Allie interviewing entomologist Dr. Justin Schmidt, the creator of the Schmidt Sting Pain Index. Dr. Schmidt explains he developed the index to test his hypothesis that social insects evolved painful stings as a defense against predators attracted to their large colonies. He describes the index as a subjective scale from zero to four, with a common honeybee sting serving as the baseline level two. The most painful sting, rated a four, belongs to the bullet ant of Central and South America, causing throbbing pain that can last up to 36 hours. Two other insects share the top rating: the tarantula hawk wasp, which delivers an intense, lightning bolt-like pain that subsides after about two minutes, and a black wasp whose sting burns like a match for roughly an hour. Dr. Schmidt notes he has been stung by approximately 115 different insect species during his research. He reveals that only female ants, bees, and wasps can sting, as the stinger is a modified egg-laying organ. A listener question prompts him to compare a bee sting to a doctor's shot, stating a honeybee sting is typically about ten times more painful than a standard immunization. He shares a frightening experience with aggressive Africanized bees in Costa Rica that caused a seasoned beekeeper to panic and flee. Dr. Schmidt details fascinating traits of the tarantula hawk, including its bright orange warning coloration, a defensive smell scientists haven't fully identified, and a lifespan of up to nine months due to a lack of vertebrate predators. He explains female tarantula hawks provision nests with paralyzed tarantulas, and the mother can determine the sex of her offspring based on the size of the captured spider. The conversation shifts to climate change, with Dr. Schmidt observing dramatic declines in insect populations, including social wasps and hawk moths, which he links to changing temperatures and mismatched bloom times. He encourages kids to educate others about the importance of all animals, even mosquitoes, within the food web. Dr. Schmidt concludes with the evolutionary explanation for sting autotomy in honeybees, where a worker bee dies after its stinger detaches, thereby delivering more venom to better defend the colony. The episode maintains an educational and conversational tone, blending personal anecdotes with scientific explanations. Listeners interested in entomology, unique animal adaptations, or firsthand research stories will find this episode engaging. Those sensitive to descriptions of insect stings or pain might prefer to skip it.

As heard by us

A lively rebroadcast that makes the Schmidt Pain Index easy to remember.

Dr. Justin Schmidt turns stings into a clear science segment, and the Schmidt Pain Index lands because the comparisons are vivid rather than fussy. The episode stays easy to follow and lightly funny as it moves through bees, wasps, bullet ants, and the black wasp.

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A rebroadcast interview about the Schmidt Pain Index and things that sting.

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